{ program notes
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To Volunteer Contact : 410-662-4380 volunteers @ keswick-multicare . org continue his studies in London at the Royal College of Music .
Following international tours as both concertmaster and soloist with numerous ensembles , Mr . Carney was invited by Vladimir Ashkenazy to become concertmaster of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1991 . He was also appointed concertmaster of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 1994 and the Basque National Orchestra in 1996 . Recent solo performances have included concertos by Bruch , Korngold , Khatchaturian , Sibelius , Nielsen , the Brahms Double Concerto and Vaughan Williams ’ The Lark Ascending , which was featured as a live BBC broadcast from London ’ s Barbican Hall . Mr . Carney has made a number of recordings , including concertos by Mozart , Vivaldi and Nielsen , sonatas by Brahms , Beethoven and Franck , and a disc of virtuoso works of by Sarasate and Kreisler with his mother Gloria Carney as pianist . New releases include Beethoven ’ s Archduke and Ghost trios , the cello quintet of Schubert and a Dvorak disc with the Terzetto and four Romantic pieces for violin .
Mr . Carney currently serves as Artistic Director for the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras and is an artist-in-residence at the Baltimore School for the Arts , where he serves on the Board of Directors .
Mr . Carney performs on a 1687 Stradivarius , the Mercur-Avery , on which he uses “ Vision ” strings by Thomastik-Infeld . Mr . Carney ’ s string sponsor is Connolly & Co ., exclusive U . S . importer of Thomastik- Infeld strings .
Jonathan Carney last appeared as a soloist with the BSO in November 2015 , performing Vivaldi ’ s Four Seasons , Marin Alsop , conductor .
About the concert :
Capriccio espagnol
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Born in Tikhvin , Novgorod , Russia , March 18 , 1844 ; died in Lyubensk , Russia , June 21 , 1908
In his autobiography , Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov recalled with pleasure the first rehearsal in St . Petersburg for the premiere of his Capriccio espagnol . “ The first movement … had hardly been finished when the whole orchestra began to applaud . Similar applause followed all the other parts wherever the pauses permitted . I asked the orchestra for the privilege of dedicating the composition to them . General delight was the answer .”
“ The opinion formed by both critics and the public that the Capriccio is a magnificently orchestrated piece is wrong .”
Orchestral musicians rarely greet a new work with applause — more often they ’ re silently cursing its difficulties . But here they recognized a work that , despite its considerable challenges , was a joy to play and moreover , made them — singly and collectively — sound like kings . Today it is still considered one of the symphony orchestra ’ s great showpieces .
Even so , Rimsky stressed that his concept went far beyond attractive scoring . “ The opinion formed by both critics and the public that the Capriccio is a magnificently orchestrated piece is wrong . The Capriccio is a brilliant composition for the orchestra . The change of timbres , the felicitous choice of melodic designs and figuration patterns exactly suiting each kind of instrument , brief virtuoso cadenzas for solo instruments , the rhythm of the percussion instruments , etc . constitute here the very essence of the composition and not its clothing or orchestration . The Spanish themes of dance character furnished me with rich material for … orchestral effects .”
Capriccio espagnol is in five brief , interlinked movements . Since it was originally conceived as a violin / orchestral fantasy on Spanish themes for Rimsky ’ s colleague at the Russian Imperial Chapel , P . S . Krasnokusky , the violin plays the leading role among the many soloists . But the clarinet is first into the spotlight in the opening “ Alborada ,” an exuberant adaptation of the traditional Spanish
18 Overture | bsomusic . org